Having spent the summer away from Sunnydale with her father, Buffy returns to town showing textbook signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. She blows off Angel, flirts with/teases Xander, is nastier than usual to Cordelia, and continues to have nightmares that the Master might come back to life and kill her... fears which may soon be realized.

Contents

Synopsis

Buffy seduces Xander in The Bronze.

Xander and Willow are quizzing each other on film quotes on the outskirts of a cemetery. Willow is doing poorly. The pair comment on the quiet summer in Sunnydale since they buried the Master in the graveyard, and Xander remarks that he is actually looking forward to school starting up again. A tender moment ensues when Xander playfully puts ice cream on Willow's nose, but just as it looks as if the two are going to kiss, a vampire appears behind Willow. Xander intervenes, and is barely holding out when Buffy shows up. She dusts the vampire, and then turns to her friends, grinning, and asks, "Miss me?"

Then she informs her friends about spending the summer in Los Angeles with her father. At home, her mother is a bit uneasy about Buffy's shopping spree. Her father, Hank explains that he felt guilty when Buffy appeared distant.

At school, Principal Snyder expresses again his disgust with student while talking to Giles. Giles spots Jenny Calendar and slips away; an oblivious Snyder babbles on. Giles finds the gang and explains that although they have closed the Hellmouth, the mystical energy still attracts evil forces to the town. He asks Buffy to resume her training after school.

Whilst practicing, Buffy has a vision of the Master and begins wailing on a dummy. At night, she dreams of being killed by him when Angel appears in her room to warn her that the Anointed One has been gathering forces. Buffy coldly brushes him off. He tells her he missed her and leaves before she can reply.

The next day, the Scoobies run into Cordelia, who is oblivious to the idea of keeping Buffy's Slayer identity a secret. Buffy heaps a harsh insult on Cordy that her friends find "too good". Meanwhile, the Anointed One and his preacher pal are forcing their vampires to dig up the Master's bones barehanded through consecrated earth.

At the Bronze, Xander and Willow wonder about Buffy's behavior. Willow tries in vain to recreate the ice-cream moment. Xander does not do what she had hoped. He instead says, "You've got something on your nose." Buffy then arrives in a very revealing dress and mocks Angel. She begins a slow, sensual dance with Xander that makes everyone squirm. Even Xander seems a but uneasy, though excited. Buffy leaves Xander hanging mid-dance after sexually teasing him. Cordelia confronts her outside and tells her to get over her problems. Buffy leaves and Cordy is kidnapped by two dark figures. They throw her into a basement with an unconscious Ms.Calender. Buffy walks to the grave that holds the bones of the Master, and finds it dug up.

Buffy demolishing The Master's bones.

At lunch the next day, Giles shares Xander and Willow's concerns about Buffy, who shows up to tell them about her discovery. Giles remembers some revivification spells and Buffy is angered that he never told her. Snyder shoos away the students, and tells Giles he would like to expel Buffy, as he "smells" numerous bad things about her. Giles tells him to give her a chance, and Snyder thinks his faith in her is "weird".

That night, the Scoobies learn that a revivification spell needs the blood of the "closest" person to the deceased. Cordelia's watch, wrapped around a large rock, sails through the library window. Buffy leaves for the obvious trap, saying she cannot look out for them while slaying.

Outside the basement where Cordelia was held, Buffy tries to pick a fight with Angel, who ignores her. Inside, they find one female vampire. Buffy realizes that the trap is not for her. At the same time, Giles realizes that the foreign text actually said that the ritual requires the blood of those physically nearest to the Master when he died -- in other words, Giles, Willow, Cordelia and Ms. Calendar.

Buffy returns to the library to find a bloody Xander, who angrily warns that if anything happens to Willow, he will kill Buffy. They go back to the female vampire, whom Buffy tortures into confession. Buffy then interrupts the ritual, while Angel and Xander rescue the others. After slaying the vampires there, Buffy utterly destroys the Master's skeleton with a sledgehammer, and is overwhelmed by her emotions and comforted by Angel.

The next day, Buffy apologizes for her behavior and is pleasantly surprised to find herself forgiven. Meanwhile, the Anointed One gazes at the scene of destruction and exclaims, "I hate that girl!"

Continuity

This episode marks the start of the tradition of all Buffy season premiers beginning in, or close to, a cemetery.

This season also marks the first appearance of David Boreanaz in the opening credits.

The Master is well and truly dead after this episode. However he will appear several times in flashback on Angel.

Cordelia is reluctantly adopted into the Scooby Gang, though her participation will be lighter than other characters.

Principal Snyder "smelling" expulsion about Buffy turns out to be true in the coming series.

This marks the first appearance of the high school lounge room which will make more appearances in the second and third seasons.

Cordelia tells Buffy to "get over it" in response to Buffy's appalling behavior in this episode. Cordelia would again use this line, to Angel, in Angel.

Joyce says she hopes Buffy can make it through the school year without getting kicked out, which eventually comes to happen between "Becoming" and "Anne".

This is the second and final "real" appearance of Buffy's father Hank Summers on the series. All subsequent appearances will be in the form of flashbacks, dreams or hallucinations.

In the beginning of the episode, Principal Snyder calls girls "hormonal time bombs". In the season 5 episode "Blood Ties", Spike calls Dawn Summers that after she finds out she's the Key.

Xander said, "Hey, I got a plan: how 'bout miniature golf." And Willow replied: "There's no course here." However, Ted takes them and Joyce to play miniature golf on a Sunday drive in "Ted" .

This is the first attempt to raise a vampire from the dead during the series; the first time it actually happens is in the Angel episode "To Shanshu in L.A", when Wolfram and Hart bring back Darla. It is also the first time one of the Scooby Gang tortures a vampire for information.

Behind the Scenes

Production

Xander makes a comment about Buffy's new shorter, blonder hair. This is because Sarah Michelle Gellar had had her hair restyled for Scream 2, which she filmed during the hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Broadcast

"When She Was Bad" pulled in an audience of 2.9 million households. When the episode was aired as a repeat in November 1997, it actually scored a higher 3.1 million household rating.

Deleted Scenes

Joyce: "What you forgot is that I'm gonna have to deal with another year of 'Daddy would let me buy that.'"

Pop Culture References

When Willow and Xander play a cinema quizz, they referenced The Terminator with the line "In the few hours that we had together, we loved a lifetimes worth.", Planet of the Apes with "It's a madhouse! A madhouse!" and Star Wars with "Use the force, Luke."

Witness: Referenced to by Willow and Xander in their movie quote trivia game at the beginning.